


Shattered Under Midnight

by jokerswild



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Missing Scene, Reunion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-05
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-16 10:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3484283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jokerswild/pseuds/jokerswild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For days he's been pretending that he's fine while ignoring the looks he was getting from his older brother. Damn Dori and his eyes full of grief and pity, like he knows just how many times Nori has turned to tell Bofur a joke only to remember that he wasn't there. Or how many times during those first few days he caught himself humming Bofur's song from Rivendell while he actually bothered looking for the Arkenstone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shattered Under Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually my half of a collab I did with my friend aviva0017 on tumblr! She drew up [this lovely picture](http://aviva0017.tumblr.com/post/112749647333/yay-i-can-finally-post-the-thing-d-this-is-a) for her part of the collab! Make sure you check it out! The title was taken from the song "Starlight" by the Wailin Jennys, which was on repeat while I was writing.

For as large as Smaug is, the dwarves gathered together outside of the gates of Erebor can barely see the dragon as he flies through the air towards the doomed Lake-Town. The only hint of the danger in the night sky is the sound of giant wings and the moon light shining on the creature's back as he flies through the air. 

Nori's eyes dart from the dragon, to the town, to the dwarves and the hobbit around him and then back to Smaug again. No one moves or scarcely breathes as they wait, all of them unable to do anything but watch. For the first time in a long time he's helpless to do anything and he despises the feeling. How many bad situations and close calls had he gotten himself out of over the years? Too many to count but he's always had a plan, a way out in even the worst of situations.

He knows there's nothing he or any of them could do though. They couldn't warn the towns people – more importantly their kin – of what was coming, they're too far away. Even if they could what good would that do anyone? Smaug was nearly above them now and you couldn't outrun a dragon who is bent on death and destruction.

So Nori grits his teeth and pretends like he doesn't want to go running and screaming towards the doomed town. Rationally he knows that the chances of him dying in the flames along side the ones he would be trying to save are high. The side that's entirely too attached to a certain hatted dwarf though doesn't really give a damn. If he could at least save Bofur then somehow going up in puff of smoke would be worth it. Probably.

But it's not worth it, not really. At the end of the day Nori still has two brothers to think about and while Smaug dives toward Lake-Town, he still has to figure out how to save his brothers once the dragon returns. The thief – unlike some – wasn't currently under the impression that they had managed to drive the lizard out for good. Not when the only thing that stood between him and his hoard were nine dwarves and a hobbit. No, once the dragon he turns Lake-Town into nothing more than floating ashes, he's going to return and they were going to be in trouble.

Smaug's roar echos through the night as the creature swoops over the town, breathing fire and cutting Lake-Town nearly in half. Then comes the screaming and the tolling of a single bell as the dragon flaps his wings and rises again. Nori looks down at his boots and tries to swallow the lump that has suddenly formed in his throat. He doesn't let himself think of Bofur being afraid and trying to escape the town before it's too late or worse being trapped and unable to escape.

Nori watches out of the corner of his eyes as Smaug dives again and there's more fire, more screaming, and more of that accursed bell. His heart sinks further into his stomach with each doomed ring that echos off the mountain.

“Poor souls,” Balin chokes and Nori watches as the older dwarf turns his back on the town. The thief doesn't look at the flames or the dragon, he stares resolutely at the stone beneath his feet. He can't go down there, absolutely can not. Even in his own head he's unconvinced, thoughts of how easy it would be for him to slip in and out of the town start to engulf him.

Except that he also knows it wouldn't be that easy. The biggest problem besides the town being under attack from a dragon, was that he had no idea where Bofur, the princes, and Oin would have gone after they left. Anyone of the people in the town could have taken them in either hoping for repayment later or even less likely because they were good people.

Against all odds they could even be safe on shore already and wouldn't that just be a kick in the jaw. He could be searching for Bofur in the burning wreckage and he wouldn't even be there. That would just be his luck.

Nori's thoughts are interrupted by a quiet sobbing next to him and he remembers the biggest reason why he isn't already halfway down the mountainside. His brothers need him and while Bofur might need him too, there's absolutely nothing he can do to help the hatted dwarf. Here at least he can try to keep them safe and out of Smaug's literal line of fire.

Nori gives the town one last look and turns to his younger brother and rests a hand on Ori's shoulder. 

It's then that Nori does two things he hasn't done since he was a very young dwarf. The first is that he prays. He prays that Bofur – and okay the others too – survives Smaug's attack or even better that he isn't in the town at all and was well on his way here. If not...well if not then he prays that Bofur will forgive him for not being there when they meet up again.

The second thing he does is that he agrees with Dori, which he's never going to admit to. At the beginning of the quest he had agreed that Ori should go, see some of the world and get out from under Dori's thumb. All those months ago Ori had been more than adult enough to handle coming to Erebor, only now does Nori feel like his brother is too young to be on this quest.

Looking down at Ori, he wishes that the young scribe were safe at home with Dori. Both of them drinking tea and eating cookies and far removed from all of this. It wasn't fair that both of them now had to shoulder the weight of the guilt that they had caused the destruction of Lake-Town. Ori was too young and Dori had enough to deal with already with a thief as a brother.

Then Bilbo says that he's seen Smaug fall from the sky and despite himself, Nori feels just a little hope that maybe, just maybe, Bofur will make it.

~*~

Four very long days later finds Nori deep in the treasury of Erebor, hiding behind one of the massive piles of treasure, throwing coins into a gilded bowl. He's supposed to be looking for Thorin's precious arkenstone but loses more and more motivation to find the damn thing with every day that passes.

In fact he could have the stone in his hand right now and not give a flying orc's arse about it. He might even bury it back in the pile of coins just out of spite of Thorin and this stupid quest. Okay maybe he would just consider it and then he would hand it over to the king before hightailing it out of the mountain.

Thorin hasn't gone so far as to forbid it yet but he has strongly implied that they weren't to leave the mountain until the arkenstone is found. So yeah at first Nori had looked, then his mind started to wander and he started to grow restless. He considered himself the best when it came to slipping in and out of any location but there were too many factors here that kept him basically locked inside of Erebor.

The fact that they were such a small number was the first factor, everyone would notice the moment one of them was missing for more than an hour. Even now he knows that someone is going to walk by soon looking for him. Another was that ever a guard Dwalin was posted at the main gates and would tattle the moment Nori walked out. Too bad besides the secret door, which they had closed, it was the only way in or out of Erebor that he knows about. 

Of course the biggest anchor keeping him here is his two brothers. Even with Smaug taken care of, he didn't feel like it was safe to leave Dori and Ori behind while he went to Lake-Town. There was something about Thorin lately that made Nori wary and while he never thought that the king would hurt his family before, in the last few days he's started to wonder.

Besides if Bofur was alive it was better to wait here for him than to go wandering off and risk the chance of walking right past him. It would piss him off if he went all the way down to Lake-Town only to have to hike back up here because he missed Bofur.

With a long sigh Nori tosses another coin into the bowl, listening to the clanking of the metals echo in the open room.

At first the sheer amount of gold and gems inside the mountain had been over whelming and he couldn't wait for Bofur to see it all. Of course they had each heard the tales of the amount of wealth that Smaug was sitting on but seeing it in person was nothing compared to the stories.

When they first started out he thought that he would be sitting here with Bofur, basking in the glory of their combined shares of gold. The two of them had come from nothing but they were going to be two of the richest dwarves in all of Middle Earth. For the first time in their lives they were going to be able to afford the things they needed and be able to splurge on nice things.

Not that Bofur will – or would have – even as one of the richest dwarves he still would have been as modest as ever. He could almost hear the miner turning down new clothing simply because his old clothes were still good. It was always like that with him. Bofur would have happily spent all of his money on someone else, like his nieces and nephews or brother and cousin, before he thought about buying anything for himself.

It was endearing if Nori is honest, annoying at times but endearing none the less. There weren't enough people like that in the world and now there was one less.

Nori tosses another coin harder than he means too and pretends that thought did cut him right to his core. For days he's been pretending that he's fine while ignoring the looks he was getting from his older brother. Damn Dori and his eyes full of grief and pity, like he knows just how many times Nori has turned to tell Bofur a joke only to remember that he wasn't there. Or how many times during those first few days he caught himself humming Bofur's song from Rivendell while he actually bothered looking for the Arkenstone.

Dori didn't know anything because Nori would never tell him any of that. It wasn't something that he could understand even if he did want to tell Dori. His older brother had lost people in his life sure but no one like Bofur. They had been the best of friends since they were kid and even closer as adults. How could Dori understand what it was like to lose someone like that?

Besides actually admitting out loud that Bofur was never coming back wasn't something he was ready to do. It was one thing to think realistically that with every day that passes the chances that Bofur will just show up fall lower and lower, but it was something else entirely to say that. It's stupid and Nori knows it but it does feel like as long as he doesn't admit that Bofur is dead, then he's not.

And Nori has basically made a career out of not admitting things. So this will be just another thing that he'll pretend hasn't happened until the moment that he can't anymore. Mahal knows that denying almost everything – and convincingly – was one of his strong suits. He would deny Bofur's fate until he either buried the miner or so much time had passed that there was no realistic way that he could still be alive. Probably about the time that he finally started getting grey hairs.

Nori tosses his last coin into the bowl as he hears someone approaching. Before the hobbit even rounds the pile of treasure he's sitting on, he knows it's Bilbo. As quietly as he could walk Bilbo couldn't stop the coins beneath his feet from shifting and making noise. Nori quickly stands and adjusts his borrowed clothing before greeting, and startling, the hobbit. They both laugh quietly before going up to join the others for dinner.

~*~

The thief is wandering through the halls around where they're all staying when he hears yelling. His first instinct is that something is wrong but the voices sound jovial not scared. He eyes the door into the store room, wondering what would having everyone so excited before deciding that he should probably go see. Maybe they had finally found the Arkenstone and he could finally get out of this mountain to go down to Lake-Town. If not that maybe someone had gotten something fresh for dinner, that would be enough to make this group happy.

What he see's when he gets to the doorway though makes him feel like he's been punched in the stomach.

Right before his very eyes Bofur stood hugging his brother, a big smile on his face and signature hat on his head. For the most part he looks okay, besides a scratch on his cheek and a few bruises on his temple and along his jaw. His clothes also look singed in places and much dirtier than Nori remembers them but there Bofur stands happy and alive. Maybe he looks a little older as well but surviving a dragon attack would be more than enough to put grey hairs on anyone.

The miner's laugh is loud and echos off the stone walls along with nearly a dozen others. There's excited chatter as everyone catches up and Nori notices Bifur wiping away a tear as Bofur talks before picking him up in a huge bear hug. Bombur laughs as his older brother flails, wanting to be put back down.

It's an incredibly happy scene and exactly what he had expected would happen if Bofur, Fili, Kili and Oin came back alive. Which is why it doesn't feel real to him, like it's all just a dream and he's going to wake up at any moment and there will only be ten of them. 

Then his eyes lock with Bofur's and Nori doesn't feel like he can move. Not that he's sure where he would go right now even if he could but he's rooted to the floor anyway. The miner manages to get away from his family and his smile only seems to grow with every step he takes until he stops just in front of Nori.

He only hesitates for a moment before he reaches out and grabs the other dwarf by his borrowed coat and pulls him closer. Bofur laughs as their heads bump together and they wrap their arms around one another. Nori growls lowly at the feel of wool against his forehead and reaches up to pull Bofur's hat back enough that there's nothing between them when he presses their heads together again. The other hand keeps a hold of the miner's coat, afraid and unwilling to let him go.

For a moment all Nori can do is breathe. The smell of sunshine and fresh air mixing with the lingering smell of burning wood that still clings to Bofur's borrowed clothing. It's all a reminder that the other dwarf is here and alive. His chuckle is like music in Nori's ears and his pulse beats strong under his palm when the thief moves his hand up to cradle the back of his neck. Nori can feel his fingers clinging to the back of his tunic and his other hand wrapping around his forearm.

Bofur is here and alive and Nori can hardly believe that it isn't a dream. He closes his eyes as they start to water, all the weight of things he'd been denying since that night they watched Lake-Town burn hitting him like a rock slide. His guilt and anger and sadness swirl in his chest along with the sheer happiness and relief he feels with Bofur's return. He has to take a ragged breath and curls his hands into fists as he notices they're starting to shake.

“'M alright,” Bofur whispers gently. Nori gives him a faint nod in acknowledgment and takes a deep breath to try and calm himself. Bofur presses a gentle kiss to his lips and he sighs at the contact. There was another thing that he never thought he would get again, not that he really expected to miss the gentle touches they occasionally shared between the ones that were less than that.

“Took your sweet time getting here,” he says making Bofur laugh. The thief smiles a little too, drinking in the sound and the way it reverberates off the walls. Its ridiculous that his laugh sounds so good since Bofur was only gone for five days, except that he wasn't just gone Nori had thought he was dead.

“Aye, the lads wanted to stop and see the sights,” and Nori doesn't need to open his eyes to see the smile on Bofur's face or the way it makes the edges of his eyes crinkle.

“Lazy bums playing around while we were working,” Nori scoffs and they both laugh at that. For the first time in nearly a week he really laughs and he feels a lot lighter too. The weight of this entire quest rolling off of him like water off a boulder. 

“Tried to get up here as soon as we could, we weren't sure...” the miner trails off after a while. Nori finally opens his eyes and looks up at Bofur, seeing the days worth of worry and fear in his hazel eyes. It only takes a moment for him to realize that there had been no way for the four in Lake-Town to know what happened to them. Their reunion isn't just a weight off of his shoulders, but Bofur's as well.

“We're alright too. Managed to put in a solid gold floor in the hall of kings too,” Nori grins. Bofur studies him for a moment before he bursts out laughing. “I can show it to you if you want,” Nori purrs quietly and watches the way Bofur's eyes drift down to his lips as he does.

The miner looks between him and his family and then back to him, “aye, I'd like to see that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Also try to tell me that the first thing the dwarves that had been in Erebor did wasn't showing off that gold floor the moment Bofur, Fili, Kili, and Oin got back. Seriously I bet they were all super proud of themselves for that, even if it didn't work.


End file.
